The United States hopes the UN Security Council will today lend its financial and political support to rebuilding Iraq.
Iraq's Foreign Minister, Mr Hoshyar Zebari, is expected to present the timetable that the Iraqi Governing Council and the US-led coalition devised for a handover of power to a provisional government in June and constitutional general elections by the end of 2005.
"I think an affirmation or affirmations of support for the political, economic and security development of Iraq would be most welcome indeed, and most appropriate under the circumstances," US Ambassador Mr John Negroponte said.
The 15-nation council, sharply divided over the war, considers a report on the UN's future role in Iraq by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who said Saddam's capture removed a "rather long shadow" over the transition process.
The Security Council yesterday approved a terse statement welcoming Saddam's capture, reflecting members' wary approach to US pleas to provide political and financial aid for Iraq.
"We are talking here about what is mainly a symbolic event," Russia's deputy foreign minister, Mr Yuri Fedotov, told news agencies in Moscow. "If coalition participants intend to act independently, they can hardly count on the support and understanding of other countries."